


Piece Of Cake

by SaraJaye



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxiety, Baking, Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Hugs, Keith loves his enthusiastic chef boyfriend, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 08:43:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17056550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: Objectively, no one could beat Hunk in a cooking contest of any kind. Now it's just a matter of getting Hunk to believe it himself.





	Piece Of Cake

In Keith's mind, there was no better baker in the universe than his boyfriend. But he also knew Hunk was still prone to anxiety when it came to competition, especially given how baking was usually what he did to _relax._ In this case he was going to have to think, really analyze every decision he made, and overthinking was a good way to ruin your fun.

"I've narrowed it down to a gingerbread house or a scenic cake," Hunk was saying. "But then again, _everyone_ does gingerbread houses, and cakes are making a comeback! Maybe I should just make cookies instead." He sighed. "Maybe I should've never entered this competition. I know Lance meant well, but I shoulda just told him no way when he showed me that flier!"

"Hey." Keith walked up behind his lover, placing his hands on his shoulders and rubbing gently. "Don't talk like that. We wouldn't have suggested you enter if we didn't believe you could win. Nobody else is gonna hold a candle to you and we all know it," he said. "You're the one who made us edible food on a castle that only served space goo!"

"That's different! Back then it was just a matter of survival and making sure we had a variety, this is a _show!_ I mean, we're gonna be on TV and everything..." He winced, his face turning a little pale. "Oh man, I'm getting dizzy. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten so much at breakfast..."

Keith gently led him away from the counter, towards the couch, settling them both down. He sat up as straight as he could, so his taller lover could lean against his shoulder. Even with the few inches he'd shot up during his time in the quantum abyss, he'd always be on the short side. Hunk's face buried itself in the crook of his neck, his sigh warm against Keith's skin.

"You'd think I'd outgrow this worrying thing after three years," he muttered. "Sometimes I feel like I'm still that same nauseous basket case from our early days in Voltron."

"Look, you worrying is like me being terrible at jokes, Pidge falling asleep at her laptop, or Lance being dense," Keith said. "Shiro once said no matter how much we grow up, there's always these little things that are a part of us. It's just who we are."

"I wish it wasn't," Hunk mumbled, nestling closer. "I wanna be excited about this, cooking's one of the things I'm best at and this contest is even for a good cause! All the sales money goes to the children's hospital and the orphanage, I can't _not_ be a part of something like that. But when I think about the contests I see on TV, the harsh judges, how those bakers probably go without sleep just to get their things looking so nice..."

"And just who was it who told Vrepit Sal that if a dish wasn't perfect, it wasn't coming out of the kitchen?" Keith asked, running his fingers through the fringe of hair hanging lazily over the ever-present bandana. "You turned that slop factory into the best restaurant in the Space Mall. I only wish I'd had time to stop in for a bite while we were there." Hunk smiled a little.

"Too bad we never got a chance to go back. I'd say that was one of my finest hours."

"And you've only gotten better from there," Keith said. "Normally at a time like this you tell people it doesn't matter if they win or lose, but I _know_ you and there's no way you can't win. I'm serious, if that happens, I'm gonna have the judges investigated for fixing." That got a small laugh out of Hunk.

"Come on, Keith, you know what they say about putting all your eggs in one basket."

"Then should I bust out the old _we'll love you just as much if you lose_ line?" Keith ruffled his hair. "Because I will, and you know it." Hunk's eyes filled with tears.

"Aw, Keith...I know you do. Hey, I knew how you felt about me even before you did!" During the mission to rescue Hunk's family, his future in-laws, Keith had fought harder than he'd fought for anyone who wasn't Shiro; at the time, he'd just chalked it up to not wanting the gentlest member of the team to be heartbroken if they failed, but later he'd realize the feelings bubbling in him were not unlike how he'd felt for Shiro for the longest time.

Before the final battle with Honerva, before the sacrifice of the Lions to save all the realities, Hunk had kissed him, and everything had clicked.

"Trust me to be the last horse across the finish line," Keith chuckled. "Even _Lance_ figured it out before I did. Remember how he cornered me and said I better be the best boyfriend you ever had?" He smiled. "How am I doing?"

"Pretty good for a guy who used to get awkward anytime someone who wasn't Shiro hugged him." Hunk winked. "And your pep talks are just as good as ever! I already feel better!"

"Good." Keith leaned down to kiss him. "Even if the competition is stiff, we're all in your corner." He stroked Hunk's cheek, falling back on the words Shiro said to him every day even now. "I believe in you."

Hunk's only response was a tight hug, followed by a deep, passionate kiss. Just like always, Keith felt himself melting into it, fingers catching in his lover's hair as his other hand rested on a thick bicep. Hunk was just the right blend of soft and muscled, one of Keith's favorite places to fall asleep was against his shoulder or with his head on his lap. Everything about this man was warm, comfortable, almost _magical._

Pidge had said it best during that weird game show dream. Hunk got along with everyone, even as far back as their Garrison days when most of the kids and teachers hated Keith, Hunk was the one to say hi and smile at him in the hallways or offer him food or help with his schoolwork.

The beeping of his phone broke them out of their liplock, Keith rolling his eyes at a text from Shiro.

"My well-meaning bestie just suggested that if you really want to knock the judge's socks off, you should try baking an _edible_ fruitcake," he said. "I think someone should remind him that that's not..."

Wait. Shiro had always been pretty smart, but had he just hit on the most genius idea? Hunk seemed to realize it as well.

"Okay, now _I'm_ the dope for not thinking of this one earlier! Edible fruitcake, the kind you _want_ your relatives to send you, one that'll never see the dark inside of the coat closet or the basement! Of course!" He released his hold on Keith and leapt up from the couch, doing a victory fist-pump. "Tell Shiro he's a genius!" Keith grinned, texting just that.

_Thank Matt here. His grandma just sent us our third nasty fruitcake,_ Shiro texted back.

"Okay, so we owe Shiro and Matt a thank-you basket of cookies," Keith said. "So I guess we'll be eating takeout or leftovers for a few days while you prepare?" Hunk gasped, scandalized.

"Takeout more than one day in a row? In _this_ house?! Keith, I built us a second kitchen for a reason." He gestured towards the setup just outside their living room. "How does grilled tuna steak sound tonight? With endive salad and garlic mashed potatoes?" Keith's mouth watered.

"Like heaven. Even a restaurant can't match your tuna steak, Hunk." Even Pidge, who only liked tuna from a can and mashed up with mayonnaise, couldn't resist them. Hunk was so much more than the Food Guy and they all knew it, but for someone like Keith who'd grown up on fast food, frozen meals, canned soup, and orphanage rations, a home-cooked meal was one of the ultimate ways of saying _I love you._

Once again, Keith knew he was the luckiest man in the universe to have a boyfriend like Hunk Garrett.

"Hey, wanna help with the cookies?" Hunk offered. Keith grinned, getting out the pans and the measuring cups, both of them humming _The 12 Days of Christmas_ as they worked.

 

Hunk stayed up half the night coming up with the formula for what he named "the anti-fruitcake," collapsing into bed around what Keith estimated was three in the morning. The next few days were spent experimenting again and again, Hunk occasionally freaking out and breaking down, despairing of ever getting it right. He'd have fallen asleep at the counter, too, if Keith hadn't caught him or Kosmo hadn't teleported him to bed in time.

But Keith never stopped telling Hunk those magic words, holding his hands, rubbing his shoulders or distracting him when he needed it, and the payoff was the final, perfected anti-fruitcake coming out of the oven the day before the contest. Met with approval from every one of their friends.

"We all knew you could do it," Lance said with a smile. Hunk beamed before nudging Keith forward.

"Thank this guy. He wouldn't let me give up no matter what!" Keith blushed a little.

"As a great man once told me, you should never give up on yourself."

"And even if you only get second place, remember, you made _fruitcake_ into something people will actually want to eat," Pidge said. "That's gonna change the world! Well, more than saving the universe already did."

Keith kissed Hunk on the cheek, smiling.

"We'll all be rooting for you tomorrow."

 

When Hunk predictably won the contest, no one could stop Keith from leaping up and cheering louder than anyone had ever heard him cheer before.

"That's my guy!"


End file.
